New Video Card

_AH_Duff4r · January 23, 2011, 08:41:15 PM

Looking for suggestions....

Upgrading my rig. Replacing a EVGA 8800GT Superclocked (SC) 512

Prereq's:

NVIDIA - because, Drivers are more solid and it handles the OpenGL in IL-2 better.

After rebate: 200 or less.

LOL! I have driven myself nuts at Newegg. Thought I'd check the squads experiences with the newer cards.

Thanks S~
Duff

_AH_DarkWolf · January 23, 2011, 09:03:22 PM

Not sure how many of them fit your stipulation of $200 or less, but I bought an EVGA GTX 460 Superclocked 1gig in september. It's been working good so far. Driver releases have been a little few and far between. I think there's only been 3 WHQL driver releases since I got it, at least for XP. The first was ok, the second made some nice improvements but made the fan run alot louder, the latest release last week gave me a slight hit in performance in IL-2 so I switched back. Remember to look close at the last two letters of the serial numbers on those EVGA cards. The -AR ones are slightly more expensive but they come with the lifetime warranty, the -TR ones for example have only a 2 year warranty. It pays to do your research on that.

DW

_AH_Duff4r · January 23, 2011, 10:22:40 PM

Thanks DW...

Here's what I had picked before I wrote this:

EVGA 01G-P3-1373-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568
I didn't know about the last numbers and don't see either here. Will investigate as suggested.

OBTW with the mail in rebate this is $184.99

S~ Sir,
Duff

_AH_DarkWolf · January 23, 2011, 11:02:46 PM

Thats the exact model I have.

DW

_AH_Duff4r · January 24, 2011, 03:07:45 AM

DW,

I use drivers modded by Side here: http://www.side.pl.pl/downloads.php?cat_id=6

currently using: 259.09

Side takes the excess garbage out. Most drivers are around 25 M. I have been with him for nearly 3 years...good stuff!

===> You may need to login to the site.

Thanks and S~
Duff

_AH_Moby · January 25, 2011, 02:19:28 AM

Quote from: _AH_DarkWolf on January 23, 2011, 11:02:46 PM
Thats the exact model I have.

DW

Where did you get yours DW, and how much???

~S~! Mobes

_AH_DarkWolf · January 25, 2011, 02:34:56 AM

A local computer shop, it was $299. They are a bit cheaper now.

DW

_AH_Twenty · January 25, 2011, 10:39:13 PM

Here is a EVGA GTX 470 for $239 after rebate

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0349835

_AH_Duff4r · January 26, 2011, 04:32:12 AM

Whoa!

Thanks Twenty! Great find....Investigating this card now!

Edit: this card is 9.5 inches long and won't fit into my current case..... :unhappy-059:

S~
Duff

_AH_Twenty · January 26, 2011, 10:12:09 PM

Here is a great case

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0338051

_AH_Duff4r · January 27, 2011, 04:59:03 AM

Thanks..

Begging and pleading has commenced :happy-112:

_AH_DarkWolf · January 29, 2011, 08:56:29 PM

Funny story, the other night after BoB my comp crashed a couple times. Monitor clicked off like it had no signal and it would'nt reboot right away. When it came back up I started monitoring the temps and it was running up to 98-99c under load. So I cleaned it out with air to make sure it was'nt blocked up, checked the screws on the heat sink to make sure they were tight, opened the side of the case and had a big fan blowing on it while it was running, no change. Looking around the web it looks like a few peeps have had this issue, I think I'm gonna have to send this one back to EVGA for replacement.

Wait, thats not funny... :sad-056:

DW

HA_50 · January 30, 2011, 12:24:32 AM

i would try loading an older EVGA driver before I send it back. If like you say the last driver made the fan run faster i would bet it was running the gpu even more wild. I have dual EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX + cards in SLI, heres my card sys info

NVIDIA System Information report created on: 01/29/2011 19:22:53
System name: GAMER

[Display]
Operating System:   Microsoft Windows XP, 32-bit (Service Pack 3)
DirectX version:   9.0
GPU processor:      GeForce 9800 GTX+
Driver version:      260.99
CUDA Cores:      128
Core clock:      738 MHz
Shader clock:      1836 MHz
Memory clock:      1100 MHz (2200 MHz data rate)
Memory interface:   256-bit
Memory:         512 MB
Memory type:      GDDR3
Video BIOS version:   62.92.64.00.74
IRQ:         16
Bus:         PCI Express x16 Gen2
GPU processor:      GeForce 9800 GTX+
Driver version:      260.99
CUDA Cores:      128
Core clock:      738 MHz
Shader clock:      1836 MHz
Memory clock:      1100 MHz (2200 MHz data rate)
Memory interface:   256-bit
Memory:         512 MB
Memory type:      GDDR3
Video BIOS version:   62.92.64.00.74
IRQ:         16
Bus:         PCI Express x16 Gen2

_AH_DarkWolf · January 30, 2011, 01:01:39 AM

I don't think it was the driver causing the fan to go up after all. It's an issue with the mounting of the heatsink on the GPU. Some others have had this issue, as soon as I presented my problem on the EVGA forums a tech e-mailed me to start the RMA process. Think they're familiar with the problem.

DW

_AH_Bong · January 30, 2011, 10:50:40 PM

Thanks ALOT... I WAS trying to save for a new Intel I7 2600k Sandy Bridge Build By March.. However, the real world snuck in.. Roomates truck needed work AND I managed to Kill the battery in my bike. Sooo... after forking out for the truck and spending $100.00 on a replacement batteryfor the bike. I took my leftover cash and bought a PNY GTX460 xlr8 edition as a feel good item. LOL the Game is AWSOME maxed out on settings :happy-112: :happy-112:

New Video Card

HA_50